Strength
by NerdofSpades
Summary: Jim just wanted his friends and family to be safe. He needed to be strong enough to protect them. But exactly how far should he go? (Part 4 of The Trollhunter's Stepfather)


Jim stared at the black ooze filled jar sitting on his dresser. He knew he didn't need it right now. There wasn't an immediate reason for it. But… Merlin was surprisingly persuasive.

What if he didn't have time? What if something happened and he wasn't strong enough. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to his friends and family. He needed to be strong enough to protect them, and his enemies weren't going to sit back and announce themselves and give him time to prepare before attacking. He needed to be ready.

At the same time, he didn't know what that thing would do. He didn't know what he would be paying for that strength. Blinky and his dad had drilled that into his head a long time ago, everything had a price. Especially magic.

Magic solutions didn't come cheap.

He couldn't just… do that.

So he sat on his bed and stared at it. What else was he supposed to do? He couldn't get rid of it. He couldn't just use it without thinking it through and considering his options, but what even were his options? What the heck was he supposed to do? Merlin had more than proved that Jim was weak. Jim hadn't been able to do anything against him.

He didn't know how long he sat there before something happened.

He was startled out of his cycling thoughts by a knock at his door.

"Jim?" Walter said hesitantly as he nudged the door open a little wider. "Are you alright?"

Jim blinked. Was he alright? "Yeah," he said slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine," Walter said. "C'mon, Jim, I've known you long enough to know when you've got something on your mind. Talk to me."

Jim's eyes slid back to the jar while his dad was talking. What exactly was he supposed to say?

"What's that?" Walter asked, noticing the new object. Jim looked back over and found a concerned and confused frown on his face.

"It's a potion… spell… thing. I don't know. Merlin made it."

Walter nodded slowly, pulling his gaze from the jar back to Jim. "What does it do?"

Jim shrugged. "He said it would make me stronger."

Walter's frown deepened. "Why would you need to be stronger?"

Jim flinched slightly and his gaze dropped to the floor. "He… he said I wasn't enough. That I would need to be stronger to… to protect everyone. To really be the Trollhunter."

Jim didn't see the anger that flashed across Walter's face, only to be smoothed over a second later. "Did he now? On your own, you might not be strong enough," Walter said with a cool indifference that told Jim he was in for a lecture. That Walter considered whatever was said to be completely incorrect and now he was going to point out every flaw in the logic placed before him. Which didn't explain why he was conceding, but definitely got his attention. "But I would like you to consider several things before you just write yourself off, Young Atlas. You do not fight your battles alone. No good soldier does. Trollhunters, not Trollhunter, remember?"

Jim nodded. Of course he remembered that. He said it.

"Good," Walter said, cutting off whatever thoughts Jim was going to think, "don't forget it. You are stronger when you fight with others, but the others are also stronger for having you. There is also the fact that you are a _child_ and are still learning. You have not finished developing physically or mentally. Your mind is flexible and your body growing stronger every day."

Jim nodded slightly and frowned. "But what if-"

"What if something happens? What if we are attacked?"

Jim nodded again.

Walter sat on the bed next to Jim. "Then we prepare, and we fight back. You will keep training, Jim, and so will your friends. You don't need to take this burden alone, Young Atlas."

Jim nodded. "And… if I'm still not strong enough?"

Walter put an arm around his son and pulled him close. Jim leaned against him. "That is a risk. That will be a risk even with Merlin's little trick. I cannot promise it won't happen. All we can do is try and prepare for it. Try and prevent it. And Jim?"

"Yeah?" Jim said quietly, nestled against Walter's chest.

"We don't have any enemies right now that I don't think you could beat, either alone or with your friends," he said quietly. "Maybe you'll need that ill-gotten strength someday, but you don't need it today. Please, Jim, don't use it until you have no other choice."

"Do you know what it does?"

"No," Walter said with a resigned sigh. "I won't pretend I can even hold a candle to Merlin's mystical knowledge, but I distrust anything he makes. I doubt he cares for your wellbeing at all. If you really do need the extra strength, even with your many allies, then the cost must be great indeed. And anyway," Walter laughed giving Jim a firm squeeze and rubbing his arm, "we already know his ability to predict the future doesn't really work all that well."

Jim laughed weekly. "Yeah." He pulled away and rubbed at some tears he just noticed on his cheeks. He looked back at the jar again. "So, what do we do with it?"

Walter shrugged. "We can hide it away somewhere. Keep it, but not somewhere it'll keep reminding us of that old sod."

Jim nodded. "Alright." He stood up and picked up the jar. After a moment of hesitation, he moved again, wrapping the jar in an old shirt and placing it in the back of his closet, behind all of his other things. "That should work."

Walter nodded. "Let's go start dinner, your mother will be hungry when she gets home."

Jim's lips pulled up in a small smile. "Yeah," he said. "Let's go."


End file.
